quiet sunday afternoon

This seems like a

strange day.
Our church services
were canceled
today (as were
those of most
every church around
here thatI know of).
Lloyd Dobbler's
parents hit the road this
morning; they were anxious to get
back to their home further south, away from this
winter mess.

But as I was saying,
strange day.
Mainly it is strange
for it to be a Sunday
and for us to all just be
hanging out at the house

like it was Saturday.

Sunday has always been about
going to church my whole life.

It's quiet outside
(have you ever noticed how a layer
of snow seems to make the world a quieter place?).


It has been rather quiet inside too (as quiet as a home
with 4 young children ever is). I just left the kids
down stairs watching The Apple Dumpling Gang.
I left Baby J down there too,
but he's upstairs with me now.
He was asleep in his pack-n-play
but he must have fussed or
cried or done something.

And what happens when a baby acts like that?
He gets delivered
to his mother.
At least that's how
it works around here.
No one else knows
how to sooth a baby
or even just listen to him fuss.

Or just hold him.
Only the mother.

I did get to work on the whole school stuff this morning
for a little bit. I need to do more. I was trying to plan out
a template for our weeks. I have some scribbled-on
copies down there with all my stuff (spread out all over
the table in the dining room). I just feel like my thoughts
aren't very organized now and that makes it hard for me
to organize or plan anything.
This seems to be my theme right now.
I don't know what I want or
what I am doing most of the time.
Somebody on the radio this morning was talking about
how passionately they felt about something and that
prompted me to ask myself what I am passionate about.
I couldn't name anything.
Not one thing.
I'm not passionate about anything in my life right now.
I'm just kind of shifted into neutral doing the things
that have to be done. Kind of one-foot-in-front-of-the-other
without much thought or effort. Just doing the next
thing, and then the next thing after that.
Don't know where I am going or where I want to be.

This just made me think of something else:
Proverbs 1:32
“…and the complacency of fools shall destroy them.”

Am I complacent?

com·pla·cent \kəm-ˈplā-s^ənt\
1. marked by complacency: self-satisfied
2. complaisant
3. unconcerned

And what is "the fix" if I am complacent?
Any ideas?
Suggestions?

We did have a nice breakfast
this morning. The in-laws
got up and had coffee
and left-over doughnuts
while we were still
dealing with babies and
showers and stuff upstairs.
Sweet T had a bowl of
cereal with them.
(I don't think my kids ever
knew that you can eat
doughnuts for breakfast.
I'm pretty sure we
haven't done that
with them. Not at home.
Maybe if we were in a hotel
or something, but how often have we been at a
hotel with our kids? I could probably
count the times on my fingers.)
The first morning Lloyd Dobbler's mom was
here this time she got up first thing and announced
she was going to get doughnuts. And she did.
I told her to get me a Sausage McGriddle if she was going out
(remember how I love those?) and she did.
So we had doughnuts that day.

Today I cooked bacon and blueberry pancakes.
Sweet T ate again with us; sometimes I wonder how
that boy stays as skinny as he does with the way he eats.
Then for lunch we had pasta with parma rosa sauce
and green beans and this chunky dark bread from
the deli. It was a good, basic lunch. Seemed simple
and adequate, very appropriate for this odd day.
I think we will have leftovers for supper.
The fridge is full of them. We have all the stuff from
Sweet T's party and chili from the night before that.
There is other stuff too.
No need to cook anything new
when we have all that stuff already made.

Well, I should get back to my
UNenthused planning and organizing
of my ordinary days.
We start school tomorrow
whether we want to or not, ready or not.
Tomorrow is the first day of February.
One month of this year already gone.
I'm glad to have this past month behind me.
Wouldn't want to do it again for anything.

Party Like It's 2010

Well, my lovely Dear Reader, we got the snow. And a bit of the ice. Our power blinked off once last night (enough to mess up all the clocks in the house). My parents' power went out for three hours last night. I'm so glad we haven't lost power. I hope we don't. I hope the snow and ice melt away and there's no more trouble.

Our church services are canceled for tomorrow. I think most of the churches around here have canceled their services. I suppose the back roads are a mess and if there's more ice tonight, there may be more mess tomorrow.

But it's really not bad out. I went to Wal-mart this morning by myself and it was just a slushy mess on the road. And then we all loaded up and went to the Mexican restaurant for lunch. Later Lloyd Dobbler and Baby J and I went way over in the country to a friend's house to pick up some meat they were smoking for us. (Lloyd Dobbler is really into smoking meat.) So we were out and about. I did see one truck get stuck in the median on the interstate, but we decided he had to have been going to fast or doing something silly to have had that happen to him today.

We had the little family gathering for Sweet T's
birthday tonight. That's my kids with their four grandparents
in the picture above. (I kind of forgot to put cute clothes
on the kids today. Oh well.) It was very a
simple get-together, very basic.
But he had a good time.
My parents were chomping at the bit to get home.
They felt like they were doing SUCH a risky thing
by being out--especially after dark.

But we ate the smoked meat

and Sweet T opened his
presents and we had the
birthday cake and ice cream
and played out traditional
game of pin the tale on the
donkey. You know, I don't
know who won the game
tonight. I was too distracted
with other things.
I think I was getting ready
to feed Baby J.

Anyway, a good time was had by all (I hope)
and it's over and cleaned up now.
Next year I hope to do better.
Next year I hope Sweet T will finally get to
have a party where he invites his little friends
and they have a jolly old time.

So....we are supposed to start schooling on Monday
and I am not ready.
Haven't had a chance to sit down and work on that
at all. There's just always something to do. Always.
Every waking minute.
Do you ever feel like this?
Perhaps I will be able to deal with it tomorrow
since we won't have church at all.
I think Lloyd Dobbler's parents will be going home
tomorrow (if the weather and the roads are okay).
Then it will just be us
hanging out here at the homestead.
Surely I'll be able to cut myself away from everyone
for a couple of hours and
get my educational act together.

I hope all you snow-loving people around me are happy. This is what you wanted, right? This hasn't been a particularly annoying snow to me. Where I am right now, with the new baby and all, I'm fine with staying home. That's what I was going to be doing anyway. It's not really keeping me from anything. I hope it will all be gone by Wednesday when we have the marathon of doctor's appointments.

I hope you are warm and safe and enjoying your
weekend. I'll leave you with a shot of Baby J
almost smiling.
He's thinking about it.
But it's so hard to capture a thing like that
on camera right now anyway.
But isn't he a sweetie?

I am so blessed.

This post is worth five thousand words.

There's got to be a morning after!

If you ever feel like a title to a post here
doesn't make any sense at all, it's probably
a line from a song. Like today.
Some song from the 70's.
It's just what crossed my mind as I sat down here
this morning. There's an appropriate song for
every situation in life. And if you're nearby,
I will sing it to you.

I feel like the morning after something. I would love to just stay in bed today. I had times in my life where I really could have done that and it wouldn't have mattered. Gone are those days. Oh, and I know I'm not supposed to wish away these current days, but I AM wishing away these nights.
Please start SLEEPING longer at night, Baby J. I have to wake him up to feed him during the day. He could sleep all day long, I think. But come night time, he suddenly thinks he needs to eat every three seconds
and he'd like to be held all night then too.

Last night in the middle of the night I was thinking
that it would be lovely to go away somewhere
all by myself.
Even if it was just to the hotel a mile away from
my house! I'd like to go and no one know where I am
and just be alone.
And I'd probably just sleep.
I know, I'm supposed to be done complaining about all this.
Sorry. This is just what is going on in my life right now.
I am knee deep in lack of sleep
and a baby who turns into a maniac at night.
But he's such a nice guy during the day.

We have been threatened with some big wintry weather action. Usually if they are threatening it like this, we don't get it. Some summer breeze will blow through and we'll have an unseasonably warm day rather than sleet and snow or whatever the threat is. But we are way over due for one of those ice storms where everyone loses power and life comes to a screeching halt here in Tiny Town. Everyone keeps saying this. "We're overdue for an ice storm." And I guess it is true. I don't think we've had one of those since I've had children. So ten years. But that doesn't mean we have to have one. Maybe Al Gore is right and we're done with those.

I went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon
(like a good southerner does at the threat of bad weather).
I bought a buggy full of stuff, but I don't know if
I bought anything worthwhile or not.
Do you ever go to the grocery store and just feel like
you are randomly putting things in your buggy?
Nothing sounds good. You don't want to eat or cook anything....and yet you need to get food. Usually I have a list that has come from me looking at the ingredients needed for the food I plan to cook in the days ahead. That's logical, right? But I didn't have such a list with me yesterday. Perhaps that is why I felt like I was wandering around the grocery store. I did have written down the ingredients I needed to make that Striped Delight dessert.
So if nothing else, we'll have a nice new dessert.

Yesterday was a busy day,
seemed like a very long day,
but it was a good day.
Sweet T's little friend came over. The kids played so well
together and I really enjoyed visiting with the mom.
We ate lunch and did cupcakes with candles on them.
Several people called to sing Happy Birthday to Sweet T.
He'd get off the phone and say,
"They keep singing that song to me!"

Then when that set of company was leaving,
another set was coming in. An old friend of mine said
she might drop by, and she did. The two families
literally passed each other on my front steps.
This friend has two children too. She brought me
the coolest gift for Baby J
(this personalized backpack-type
of diaper bag---LOVE it. I've got to
take some pictures of the cool gifts
he's been given to show you.
I think that every night
as I use one of them, a precious cowboy quilt).

She didn't stay long, but before she left, my mom got here. She (my mom) was coming to watch the kids while I went to the grocery store. So I fed Baby J so that he'd have a full tank while I was gone. And then I went to the grocery store, wandered around as mentioned before, and came home in time to feed him again.
By then it was time to get supper on the table.

Did I tell you what meal Sweet T requested
for his birthday meal? Pinto beans. That's what he
said he wanted, so that's what I made.
Pinto beans, corn bread, fried potatoes.
Lloyd Dobbler got home in time for supper.
He was in a foul mood.
By that time, I was just tired.
I just wanted to get the evening over with,
get the kids in bed, get myself in bed.
It just seemed like a long day.
Constant activity.
The only times I sat down all day, it seems,
were the times I fed the baby.

But it was a good day. Sweet T enjoyed his birthday so much. He just enjoys everything. He's that type of personality that is always ready for a good time.

One of his favorite people, Mr. Popsicle
(whose pool we go to so much in the summer)
called him yesterday too with birthday wishes.
Mr. Popsicle asked me if he could come and get
the three big kids one day next week and take them
to McDonald's for lunch and to burn off energy
on the play-thing there. Now that is the kind of treat
for the kids that is, in all actuality, a treat for me.
They get to go something fun and I don't have to be
the one doing it. I get to stay here and do whatever
needs to be done here and they can go have the big time
without me. Lovely.
But then Mr. and Mrs. Popsicle always
think of the best things. They are great.


Oh, I forgot to tell you---
coming in from the grocery store yesterday,
I stopped to get our mail and
guess what was in the mailbox?
A little package from Amazon.com.
It was the one I was so annoyed about.
It came just in time. I'm so glad it did.
It was the little wooden train engine character
that I had searched for and been so happy
to find: Hiro, the old raggedy engine from the
Thomas the Tank movie Hero of the Rails.
And you should have seen Sweet T's face
when he saw that engine! He was thrilled.
First thing this morning he went and got it brought
it to me and showed me that it was still here.
So it came just in the nick of time.
Those Amazons like to live on the edge.

Mozart and Sweet T

Today is my lovely ol' Sweet T's fourth birthday. He's gotten several phone calls this morning and he's feeling very important. We are waiting for his little friend to get here to play. That's the biggest thing in his mind, that the Other T is coming to play with him. Oh, and the cupcakes. He's also obsessed with the cupcakes.

Today is also Mozart's birthday as my children like to tell everyone whenever the topic of Sweet T's birthday comes up. We learned that when we were studying him. I still wonder if we will ever find a biography of an important old dead guy written so well (with lots of information and not deadly boring to children).

Oh, the Other T's family just drove up.
There's much excitement downstairs!
I must go.

The glass is half full.

Lloyd Dobbler told me the other day that he felt like we were still in survival mode. I think we are past that. I mean, we are getting things done. We're doing the necessary things. We have clean clothes and meals and clean dishes. We aren't living in a cardboard box on the side of the road. This week I feel like I have done a lot more. And maybe that's why I have been so tired by the end of the day and had such a time dealing with these restless nights. But it's a little after 9pm here. The kitchen is cleaned up. I am sort of ready for the company that is coming tomorrow---Sweet T's beloved friend is coming over to play and have lunch with us tomorrow (along with his mom and sister). I am fixing to wrap the birthday presents. Lloyd Dobbler is ironing some clothes downstairs. That's one thing I haven't gotten around to: the ironing. But there are clean clothes for him to iron--that's a step in the right direction, isn't it?

I feel like we are doing okay. I am going to bed tired, but I have a sense of satisfaction because, even though I am not accomplishing my lofty goals and doing impressive things, things are getting done. It's that good kind of tired. And even with Baby J---I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Do you know the tunnel I am talking about? That newborn tunnel of exhaustion and stress. It's getting better. And it will keep getting better. Every night I anticipate him making advancements on the sleeping frontier.

So things are good.

And tomorrow we have a birthday.


My precious Sweet T is turning four.
I can't believe that child is four already.
But he's four going on twenty-one.

The family party will be Saturday night
when the grandparents and aunt and uncles are here.
Tomorrow will be a fun day.
Sweet T is SO EXCITED about his friend
coming over to play.
Cupcakes are made.
They are having pizza rolls for lunch.
I've got to get these presents wrapped.

And by the way, I don't have to eat my words
about the stupid Amazons. No package was delivered
today. I'm afraid to check the tracking thing again.
It may say that it won't be here until Feburary 5th.
Or sometime in July.
I said it before and I will say it again: stupid Amazons.

So anyway, this is me, Dear Reader, with my chin up.
Things are not bad. And even if they aren't easy,
remember: This too shall pass.
I will try to stop being such a whiner and complainer.
I am blessed beyond measure.
What do I have to complain about?

Stupid Amazons.

I am so annoyed.

I ordered something for Sweet T for his birthday
from amazon.com. It was supposed to be delivered
yesterday according to the estimated delivery date.
Yesterday. January 25th.
That was the date they said all along. It didn't come
yesterday, but I wasn't alarmed.
When are deliveries ever on time?
(Unless you order from American Girl.
They are great. It's like they have a warehouse
down the street from me and can't wait to
rush my order out the door.)

I thought (and hoped) it would come today.
And maybe it will.
If it comes, I will take back my declaration
that the amazons are stupid.
But I checked the "track your delivery" thing a minute ago
to see where my package was
and all of a sudden the estimated delivery date
is Saturday, January 30th.

I'm so annoyed with those stupid amazons.

Pillow Talk

My boys slept until eight o'clock this morning.
Actually Sweet T is still asleep.

(You know what?
I should probably stop saying
"the boys"
when I am only talking about Big E and Sweet T.
There's a new boy. But he's not a boy yet, really.
He's a baby. A tiny little baby.
I'll group him in with his brothers when he is a bit older.
So you understand who I'm talking to when I say
"the boys.")

But I'm so glad those
guys slept! I feel like
Sweet T has been running
ragged for such a long time.
Like ever since Baby J
was born. Over the
Christmas holidays,
he would just look like he
was sleep walking
by supper time.

And we would put him to
bed on time, even
early sometimes, but it was just
like he wasn't resting properly
or something. But I think he's catching up.
And sleeping in
this morning will help.

Lovely K was up early.
I got up to deal with Baby J
sometime after dawn
and she wasn't in her bed.
She went downstairs and
read a library book.
Her room is right by Baby J's room
and sometimes he wakes her up.


Sweet T just got up and stumbled
his sleepy-eyed self in here.
The first thing he said is,
"Is today my last day?"
He meant his last day to be three.
Tomorrow is his birthday.
He's been counting down the days.
He also wanted to know if four years old is too old
for spankings. I had to explain how that was related
to behavior, not age. But how funny that he
thought that this birthday would come
with a "get out of spankings free" card.
"Sorry, Mom, you can't spank me anymore.
I'm four years old."

By the way, the coffee maker did its thing this morning. I didn't pop out of bed at the first hint of that mountain fresh aroma drifting up the stairs. (It's been so hard to get up the last two days! It's like all this inadequate sleep has caught up to me.) But when I did get up, I made my way to the caffeine. And you know what I added to my coffee this morning? Rediwhip. Whipped cream. It just sounded so good at the moment. And it was good. No black coffee for me. Mercy no. I have to have a bunch of stuff mixed in with it. Sugar. Flavorings are good. And now I know that whipped cream is another nice additive.

So we are off and running on a new day. I'm going to throw some breakfast at the big kids and get into the shower first thing this morning. I have GOT to get "the boys'" hair cut today. They are beginning to look like the Beatles. Not that I mind that, really. I have to say, I like shaggy hair. And they both wear it well. But we'll save that for when they are older, huh? And then they'll probably want military hair cuts. Yuck.

I just got an e-mail from Lloyd Dobbler.
Here's part of what it said:
More sleep for you is looming on the horizon.
Just keep moving towards it.

Sounds like something you'd read
in your fortune cookie, doesn't it?

Last night when I climbed into bed for the first time,
I was thinking how lovely it will be when I go to bed
one of these nights and know that I can sleep
the entire night. I've never been the type of
person who has trouble sleeping.
Wild horses have had to be called in
to rouse me from my sleep in times past.
And I told you before, I don't function
well on little sleep. I turn evil very fast.
I don't mean to. It just happens.

I need sleep.
I love sleep.
Sleep makes me want to be a better person.
Sleep completes me.
Sleep had me at hello.

Later that same day....

Well, folks, we made it out of the house today.
You know how I thought we'd get out the door
right after the 9:30 feeding.
Didn't happen.
We got out the door about an hour
after the 12:30 feeding.
But we got out the door.
That's the main point.

And I was proud of us for scooting about town,
getting our little errands done in a timely fashion.
We rolled into the garage about 3:20
and Baby J was due to eat at 3:30.
So we did good.

While we didn't get into the real pencil and paper
school work today, we didn't spend the day eating
bon bons and watching soap operas either. I feel like I have
been so busy all day. I have done 138 loads of laundry
and some of them are actually folded and put away.
And the downstairs has been somewhat picked up.
The kitchen has been cleaned.
I'm still putting away a bit of clutter from Christmas.
Like the Christmas cookie jar---it didn't quite get put
away today, but I moved it from it's cozy corner to the
island so that I will be forced to deal with it.

I moved it from its cozy corner
to make room for the new
coffee maker I bought today.
I bought a cheap-o coffee maker
at Walmart today. I already
have a coffee maker
(two actually---had both
since we got married.
One is big and I only break
it out to make coffee for a
herd of people. The other one
is very small and it
has had a stroke and probably
needs to be put in a home for old coffee makers.
It's unreliable and causes my father-in-law much grief
when he is here---he'll be happy to see the new one),
but I wanted one that I could program. This one
is supposed to be able to do that. I have been thinking
that I may switch my morning caffeine from soda to
coffee....and how alluring it would be to actually
wake up and smell the coffee. So we will see how
that goes. Now if I become some coffee maniac
who can't go a few hours without a coffee fix,
you'll be able to trace it back to this very day.

Not So Manic Monday Morning

(Let's see the Bangles sing the title of this post.)

It's almost lunch time
and rather than hopping into the shower
like a good little person, what am I doing?
Writing to you.
I thought I'd be heading out the door to the library
at this time, but it's really not a good idea to
do that unshowered, in pink flannel pajamas.
The librarians really frown on pajamas.



We were going to start with some school
work today...if you recall....but that really hasn't
happened yet. We did do Bible at breakfast. That's easy for
me to do, but that's as far as we've gotten so far. The kids
did morning jobs. I cleaned up the kitchen and got a roast,
carrots and potatoes in the crock pot for supper.
I did some laundry. Lovely K folded a load of clothes for me
(we've got to work on that skill, but messy folding is
acceptable at this point in time).
The boys put together a puzzle that's difficult for them.

So these are the things that have gotten done so far today.
I kind of feel like I need to just get up at 4:00am each
morning and get a shower and get dressed if
we have any intention of leaving the house before noon.
Time just slips through my fingers these days.
I feel like there's so much to juggle already...and
I haven't even gotten everything back into the
mix yet! Am I ever going to have my act together?

I hope you didn't get washed away in a floods this weekend.
Oh my word--it rained here like I haven't heard
it rain in a long time. Saturday night, in the wee small hours
of the morning, I enjoyed listening to the torrents of rain
on our roof. That's the thing about these thirty minute
to one hour sessions I hold in the middle of the night
with the newest face in my family
---I do enjoy the quiet, stillness
of the night (if no one is SCREAMING, that is).
I try to use this time to pray for my kids
and for whoever comes to mind at that time.
But Saturday night it was lovely to sit there with my
beautiful boy and hear the rain on our roof.
It makes me thankful for our sturdy home,
shelter from the elements,
our blessed life.

The roast and veggies in the crock pot today
were supposed to be our lunch yesterday.
But somebody suggested that I not cook it overnight
in the crock pot. "Get up and do it Sunday morning," this
person suggested. I knew when I heard these words
that it was not a good idea. I should have put it together
Saturday night when I was in full use of my faculties.
I used to get up and fix huge meals before church on
Sunday mornings. That's not happening right at this point
in my life. Even getting that stuff all thrown into the
crock pot on Sunday morning would have been a stretch.
And it didn't happen.
We talked about having bologna sandwiches for lunch
.....but that didn't happen either.
We ended up going to our casa away from casa
(our favorite Mexican restaurant).
Lovely K made sure the waitresses knew that Sweet T
has a birthday this week. So they sang to him,
put the little sombrero on his head and gave him
the sopapilla (is that what it's called?).


The thing was, I got so tickled just watching Sweet T
when they were doing this. I thought he might be
scared or embarrassed at all the attention
or something. Instead, he just grinned from ear
to ear and every time they thumped the back of
the sombrero (they do this at certain points in the song
they sing), he just made this crazy face.
He just cracks me up. I was thinking this morning as he
was dancing to some song on the radio
(and you haven't seen dancing until you
have seen this kid's moves)
that he is going to be one to watch. I hope he never
loses his sense of self expression,
his UNinhibited confidence, his joy for life.
He's something else, that kid.
And he's running out of days as a three year old.

And Lloyd Dobbler took that picture of the kids with my cell phone. I was impressed that it turned out so well. I forget that there's a phone on that thing. I just don't love technology. I should have been born in the '40s. I have the hair for that era and people used typewriters back then. Now there's a piece of machinery I can appreciate.

Okay, I have got to get in the shower.
Have a lovely day, Dear Reader.

Saturday Evening Post

Well, it is Saturday evening.
I put my pajamas on before eight o'clock
if that tells you anything about my
wild and exciting social life at present.
Real movers and shakers over here.
Don't stand in our way.

We have had a nice day.
What a pleasant day to be out today!
Not like January weather at all. The sun was shining.
It was somewhere in the 50° range. Lovely K was
at my parents most of the day after spending the night
with them last night. So it was just me and The Men today.
We scurried around this morning getting done the things
that had to be done and then we loaded up and
went to College Town. I had to return things at a couple
of stores. I found the baby bathtub my heart had been
longing for (It is much like the one I had for the first
three children...the one that evaporated when we moved
into this house. Baby J had his first bath in it tonight.
I'm very glad to have it).
We were able to get to the places we needed to go to.
We grabbed a little
Chick Fillet for lunch.
Baby J managed to have
the worst diaper accident
that I have ever had
with a tiny baby in all my days
of diaper accidents---we had
to throw away the outfit he
was wearing, it was that bad.
Ugh.

I bought myself a new pair of jeans today
(the only ones I have that fit me right now are
maternity and I just can't keep wearing those).
I was excited to find some that I could fit into that
weren't maternity. At lunch I said to Lloyd Dobbler,
"Those jeans I just bought were a size ---."
He just sat there with no response for a minute
and then said, "Is that good or bad?" I guess he couldn't
tell if I was saying that happily or in disgust.
I was indeed pleased
that I fit into them
and pleased that
they weren't an
astronomically larger size.
But I will be really pleased
when there is less of me to
squeeze into these clothes.
I am ready to be a much

smaller version of myself. I was
trying on clothes in my closet
a few minutes ago, trying to
find something to wear to
church in the morning.
That is such an aggravating activity.
I'll go to the doctor soon and hopefully he'll release
me to do, you know, whatever---and then I've got
to put some effort into decreasing myself.


We had tacos for supper tonight.
I started to say
"we all like tacos"
but there seems to be
this new phenomenon
in our household
where there isn't
anything
that we ALL like.
When Lloyd Dobbler's mom
was here, I would tell her
about this or that that she
could make because
"we like that."
Then every time the first person to
encounter what she had made
(at my suggestion) would be the
person who had to say
"Ewwwww."
Lovely K has decided she hates
beans (not green beans, but everyone else in
the Bean Family). Big E will absolutely turn purple if he
thinks there are mushrooms in his food. Sweet T will
happily eat most anything...but he's not much of a
carnivore. He's never liked meat (quite the opposite of
Big E who would eat only meat if he had his choice).
And then there's Lloyd Dobbler.
Feeding him is like a box of chocolates---you never
know what you are going to get (as far as his reaction).
But for the most part, we all like tacos.

Guess what I did this afternoon?
In the handful of minutes that I had to do what I wanted,
I started pulling out school stuff.


I think we are headed back to the educational salt mines
on Monday morning. The kids are about the drive me
crazy with their abundance of free time.
They won't be happy about it, but it's got to start
sometime. And five days earlier will just mean
that we finish five days sooner. They'll be glad about
that come the beginning of summer.
As promised, Sweet T will be putting his nose to the
grindstone along with his older siblings when we start back.
This will be "preschool" for him. He is ready to start.
I don't think he'll have much trouble either.
That kid is too smart for his own good.



So it's after eight o'clock now.
Can I go to bed?
My back felt better today than it had all week
(since my lovely tumble down the stairs)
until an hour or so ago. It's so sore right now.
I'd love to just climb into bed like I was actually going
to get a whole night's sleep out of the deal.
But that's not going to happen for a while.
So I will snack on some ibuprofen
and I'll sleep when I can.

Sweet dreams to you, Dear Reader.
I hope your weekend is full of joy and beauty.

Playing the role of Charles Ingalls.....

I have come to relish these Friday mornings. I know there have just been two of them so far (that's counting today), but it's
just so nice.
I get up and get the kids ready, my mother shows up at my house at 8:00am and takes them away. Then it is just me and Baby J until some time after lunch. The house is quiet. No one can speak to me (someone can certainly scream though!). I keep thinking "This is what it would be like if my kids went to school." Every week day would be like these Fridays. Before you homeschooling moms start typing up your comments, please know that I am totally aware of what I'd be giving up too if we did this. And I don't think I am willing to do that to my kids. But the golden silence....the peace....the ease.....oh, it's so tempting.....

The HVAC guy came today and finished his work in our basement. If you go down there now, you can totally tell what the room is going to be like. The next step is drywall and then the carpeting (which we purchased last year, so it's taken care of). That room is very nearly a room.

I like the HVAC man. He seems like such a nice guy. He was here one day a long time ago when I was in the bonus room reading one of the Little House books to the kids. It was the part where Pa Ingalls gets all riled up about some political issue. He is giving some fiery speech and I was reading it like I was trying out for a role on Broadway.....and then I looked up and saw the HVAC guy standing in the doorway....and my audition was over. Don't know how long he'd been there. That kind of made me feel comfortable around him, you know, once you feel like you have made a fool of yourself in front of somebody, it really takes off all possible pressure. He's seen me acting like Pa Ingalls. Not many people can say that.
Today when he came up to tell me he was done and give me the bill, I had the radio on in the living room. I'm sure he was disappointed not to hear my rendition of Laura and Almanzo and those crazy new colts of his. The program that was on at the moment was "Truth For Life" with Alistair Begg. The HVAC guy commented that he really liked Alistair Begg and that he listens to his pod casts. I thought that was interesting.

I found a recipe on a blog that I try to read from time to time....one of those over on the right. I go in cycles about which ones I check faithfully and I have to say, there are some I rarely ever click on and some I will instantly go to as soon as I see they have an updated post. But anyway, this girl has a great blog, a great camera, beautiful children, and she's a beauty herself. And this recipe she posted is one I have needed. I will be making it soon. As soon as I am bothered by things like "desserts." Right now, we have all kinds of candy left over from Christmas, ice cream, and occasional portions of pies brought from my mother's---so why would I be making desserts? I've got enough to do with getting together a half-way decent supper.

For supper tonight, we are having a "guy meal." Lovely K went home with my parents to spend the night, so it's just me and a household of guys. I went and got some steaks out of the freezer (I keep forgetting that we have the cow in the freezer now) and I'm going to throw some potatoes in the oven and steam some broccoli. We have a big bag of Sister Schubert's rolls from Sam's. So with little effort on my part, we should have a meal that these boys of mine will like. I know that Friday night is supposed to be pizza and a movie.....but not tonight.

I'm hoping to go to College Town tomorrow morning with Lloyd Dobbler and my three beautiful boys. I have some things to return and I have got to buy a decent baby bathtub for Baby J. I am at that point where I just want desperately to go somewhere....to be somewhere other than my house. It's not really cabin fever. It's just that I have been cut off from civilization for so long and I'd like to be among the living again. Just walking around in a store will feel so nice (something other than the Walmart here in Tiny Town). And having Lloyd Dobbler along will mean help with the kids. So let's hope that this happens. It'll make my weekend if it does.


I hope something
makes your weekend,
Dear Reader.
TTFN.

Wake up and smell the baby!!!

I just had an interesting conversation
with my husband on the telephone. He asked me how
the night went, how often I had to get up with Baby J
(it's always interesting to me that he'll ask that
some times much in the same way someone who
was not even at our house will ask about it).
Anyway, I told him I fed him at 9pm, then
1:30am, 3:30, 5:30 and then this morning.
He said that I didn't feed him at 5:30,
that I couldn't have, because he was up getting
ready for work then and he would have noticed it.
He said I was asleep in the bed.So this caused me to wonder---
did I or did I not get up and feed the child at that time?
I was pretty sure I had.
I'm always checking the clock.
I do nothing but sit and look at the clock
while I am up with the baby in the night.
(Maybe we shouldn't rely so much
on our sun dial, huh?)

But I also remember when Lovely K was a newborn
and I was in the sleep deprived state
(that would be Tennessee),
a couple of times she would cry in the night
and I would dream that I had her, and think that I was
actually attending to her needs, and Lloyd Dobbler
would wake me up wondering what in the world
I was doing. One time I was sitting there in the bed,
rocking her in my arms (I thought), but she was actually
in her bed across the hallway hollering.
So it has happened before that I have kind of dreamed
that I'd done something that I hadn't actually done.
(oh, sometime remind me to tell you about
the ridiculous incident with the Kimball collectible
figurines---or all the sleep talking conversations I had
with my husband when he traveled all the time
----I can do stuff in my sleep is what I am saying...
it has happened before.)

I've been frustrated with the two hour intervals
that seem to prevail at night. This child is a month old now.
He should be able to go longer than two hours.
But he will have this one longer stretch at the first
part of the night, and then we are up and screaming
every two hours after that.


And it's always two hours
in a way that almost makes you think the kid is
watching the clock in his room. I'm thinking
that it's a habit. I need to find my book and remind
myself of things I did before.
I used to be the queen of baby scheduling
and other people would call me with questions
about what to do with their unscheduled kids.
Now I have forgotten everything I ever did
and I'm probably doing it all wrong.
Starting horrible habits.
Messing this kid up.
Making things harder for us down the road.
Where is that book?



So by a show of hands,
let's have a vote here
and you tell me
if you think I got up with the child,
as I seem to recall doing
(though I am
doubting myself now)
or if I just imagined this.



Have you ever done anything in your sleep?

...bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens....

If I were Oprah,
you'd all be walking away from this blog post
with fabulous red pj's, a tube of Carmex, a book
you might not like, and a goose.
And you'd probably be wishing that I was
really into diamonds or ipods or
something cool like that.

But I just thought I'd share with you
a few of my current favorite things.

Never underestimate the encouraging power
of a great pair of pajamas. Sometime this past fall
I purchased this wonderful pair of pajamas in anticipation
of my weary days immediately following the birth
of my lovely baby boy. I love a good pair of pajamas,
and these have proven themselves to be GOOD.
I love them. They are cozy, they are comfortable.
They're great. I highly recommend having a wonderful
pair of pajamas to come home to if you are about
to give birth to a child or have surgery.
Or both.

I also am recently enamoured with Carmex again.
I say "again" because I have been enamoured with
Carmex before. Maybe it happens each winter.
Anyway, if you have problems with dry lips,
let me introduce you to Carmex.
We're dating.

My cousin gave me a book for Christmas
(actually gave it to me a week or two before Christmas,
which worked out nicely)
that has been such a source of pleasure for me.
It's the story behind the dedications of many famous
novels. I know that to many of you, that book sounds
like literary Ambien, but to me, it is great. That's right
up my alley. I like to know the story behind stuff
(especially involving famous authors). And it has been
perfect for this crazy stage in my life where I don't
have the time or attention to read a novel.
Each chapter is its own little bit about one particular
novel's dedication. The last week or more, I have to admit,
I have carried it from place to place thinking I will
read from it, but when I sit down to steal a minute to read,
I actually just fall asleep on the book.
There are probably drool stains all over the cover.
But I do love the book.

Let's see....I'm also quite found
of wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.....

And everybody in the audience
is going home with their very own wild goose today!
You get a goose.
And you get a goose.
And YOU get a goose.

Over the river and through the woods
....to the chiropractor I go.....

I have an appointment right after lunch.

I hope he has his magic fingers fully charged today.

I feel like Gerald Ford on SNL.

Guess what I did today?

I fell down the stairs.

Just call me Grace.

Oh my goodness.
I just started down stairs and somehow
my foot slipped on that first step
and down I went.
Hitting every step on the way down.
With my rear.
I have been so sore since the moment it happened.
And now the soreness is turning into pain.
Mercy me.

So I am fixing to ease my weary bones into a warm bath
and see if that helps any.
The handful of Ibuprofen I took earlier
didn't seem to do much.

You know what happened though?
I was limping around feeling stupid for having had this
happen and I wrote about it on my status on Facebook.
You know how it has your name as the subject of
whatever sentence you would like to write.
So I wrote that I had fallen down the stupid stairs.
Several people commented about this.
One friend of mine from childhood
(who I have been happy to reconnect with
"since Facebook came into my life")
called me. She happens to be an RN too. She asked all
these questions and she felt sorry for me.
(That was nice. I don't have an abundance
of sympathy with the main people in my life.
In fact, no one in my immediate daily life
is any source of real sympathy.)
And then later she called back again and said she
was coming over to get my three older kids
and take them for ice cream. And then she did.
She had them for over two hours.
Wasn't that the nicest thing in the world?
She took them to get ice cream and also to Sonic
and to Walmart where she bought them the
DVD of "The Apple Dumpling Gang." She has twin
daughters who are in high school now and I
think it was "interesting" to her to revisit the
younger years. There are not many people who would
say "I'm coming to get your kids" and I would let
them. But I trust her. Our lives have taken very
different paths, but she is someone I know
and someone I trust.
When they got back, she kept saying over and over,
"Bell, I don't know how you do it."

So while they were gone
I sat down on the couch for a good hour,
just me and my busted bottom.
Oh my goodness. I thought it hurt then,
but it's really hurting now.
As much as I hate to make the trek
AN HOUR AWAY
to the tiny town where my chiropractor is,
I think that's going to have to happen tomorrow.

Watch that first step,
it's a doozy.

Twenty Eight Days

I'd like to send a big
"Happy Four Week Old Birthday!!!"
shout out to my precious little Baby J---who obviously
isn't reading this blog. He probably could learn to read it
in a day and become a follower
(and boost me to 2.5 readers instead of,
you know, the faithful 1.5 of you that hang on)
if he applied the same energy to learning to read
that he applies to screaming. I've never had a baby who
loved to scream until this little guy came onto the scene.
And for the first couple of weeks, we only got samples
of the scream. A little here and there.
This weekend, he has brought it out full bore.
He's trying to develop it.
Oh my word.
I have looked and looked and there is
NO volume control on this child.

Saturday night was his big night to really try to make
something of the whole screaming thing. I don't know if
he'd heard a rumor that an agent for professional
screamers was staying in the guest room below
and he was trying to show off his abilities or what.....but he
really put a lot of effort into the screaming for
no apparent reason on Saturday night.
Which meant I didn't get a lot of sleep.
And I don't know if you know this about me or not,
but I cannot function on very little sleep. I know some
people can. I'm not one of those people who can be
remotely normal on an hour or two of sleep. If I have
had a rough night, I'm going to look like a homeless
person the next day (yes, it affects my grooming)
and have the charm of Oscar the Grouch.

Last night (Sunday night) was better....only what
was keeping me awake was a killer headache.
Did someone hit me on the left side of my head
with a shovel that I forgot about?
Because that's kind of how it felt.

So it's Monday morning (as I type this).
We've had breakfast. I've cleaned up the kitchen.
I think the kids are all dressed and their beds are made.
They are downstairs watching a movie now.
I am still in my pajamas and haven't had a shower.
I'll attempt to shower and get ready for the day
(what am I getting ready for?)
after I feed Baby J in a minute.

Oh--I almost forgot, we can go somewhere today
if we want. It's the four week mile marker.
We can go somewhere, just me and the kids and
no other adult. Today Baby J is four weeks
old and today I can start carrying him in his
carrier.....and other things that weigh more than
eight pounds. But I have to say, either the lousy night
Saturday night or the activity of going to church for the
first time yesterday (all lovely six of us) and then to
my mother's for lunch or something else entirely....
but something made me just feel like I had
done TOO MUCH yesterday.
By the time the kids went to bed,
I was just melted in a puddle on the couch.
So I don't see me darting off anywhere
with the brood today. I'm going to just chill
here at the homestead
and take it easy.

But four weeks---that's such a short
period of time. And yet it seems so very long ago
that it was December 21st and I was sitting on my
hospital bed at this time of that morning wondering when
they were going to get things started for me.
I was so hungry and they wouldn't let me eat.
And there had been a mis-communication with my doctor
and his partner so the induction that was to start
first thing
that morning was not to start until lunch time.
(More of God's orchestration though,
because it worked out for good
for the timing later that afternoon)
So I was just sitting there....not knowing
how that day was going to go so very differently
from what I had in mind.
What everyone had in mind, for that matter.
The thing we were planning to watch and almost
expecting to have trouble with was my crazy, erratic
blood pressure....not my crazy, erratic baby!

When Lloyd Dobbler's mother was here,
more than once I heard her telling the tale of
what all happened (you know, the story of the birth)
to somebody on the phone and she would say that in the past
they would have lost Baby J and probably me too in the kind
of situation that happened. I guess that's true.
Women used to die in child birth all the time
(still do occasionally).
Everything just happened so fast. We went from
laughing and me thoroughly enjoying my effective epidural
to being wheeled down the hall
while my doctor yelled at the
nursing staff and things went badly.
But even with the going badly,
it all turned out all right.
God was so gracious to us.
Baby J is okay and I am okay.
Praise the Lord for modern medicine
and that I live in a day when I didn't have to die
or lose my baby because of this situation.

So four weeks.....before you know it,
he'll be getting his driver's license....

Saturday Night Special

It's raining tonight.
They said earlier today that there was
a 100% chance of rain tonight.
Really? 100%?
I realize they were RIGHT since it is raining,
but wasn't there even 1% chance
that it might not have rained?
Saying 100% just seems awfully bold.
And given how often the little weather people
are wrong, you wouldn't think they'd have the
confidence to throw out a bold statement like that.

But anyway, it is indeed raining tonight.
I wish I were at a point where that would thrill me
as much as it would under normal conditions.
I love a rainy night---people call me Eddie Rabbitt
all the time. I love to climb into bed and just listen
to the rain. Man. But you know what?
I'm too tired to care right now.
I just put Baby J down and I'm literally seconds away
from being asleep myself.
I just thought I'd pop on here to tell you that I'm going
to church tomorrow (Baby J is going for his first time).
And I'm kind of excited about it.
I'm so ready for life to be normal again.
It feels like we are taking little steps back in that
direction every day. My mom is cooking lunch for us
afterward, so that makes for a nice day too.
I just hope I can orchestrate everything.
It just seems like it requires so much of me when
the baby is so little and there's the constant feeding
and the nursing and just everything. I'm never very
good at the first few months. I love for them to get
beyond that. If they could be born at about the stage
of a six month old, that would be ideal for me.
We saw this family at the Mexican restaurant with a
nine month old baby (I had to ask them how old he was)
and it just thrilled my soul to see this older baby
.....and I had to count up.....that'll be us in August.
Hooray.
I don't want to wish it away, but oh, how I hope these
next couple of months go by quickly.
Some of these days lately seem like
they drag out forever.
But they are also full of precious moments with this beautiful child. When he's not screaming. Have I told you what a set of lungs he has? And when he decides it's time for a bit o' the screaming, you might as well just sit down and wait it out because he's just going to do it. Sigh. It's just like it's so much of the magically beautiful moments mixed with the exhaustion and pain and all the craziness that gets mingled in with the joy.
Did that make sense?
I'm too tired to think about it right now.

I'm off to sleep!
Enjoy your Sunday tomorrow!

Hop in my Chrysler, it's as big as a whale!!!

Yesterday I was out, driving in my van
with my four lovely babes in tow. Actually, I met
up with my mom in front of a store I wanted to
run into (a consignment store---I was in search of
some pants that fit that were NOT maternity
and didn't cost much because I hope to be
smaller soon) and I got the three big
kids from her. She had taken them to the first day
of our home school co-op---which went
really well, by the way.
So ANYWAY, I drove in my van, just me and my kids
like old times. Just like I was a regular adult
with all the regular adult powers.
And here's the cool part---at one point the
thermometer in my van said it was 63° out!
Can you believe that?
That's like a tropical heat wave after the bitter
cold we had recently. Of course, I have for some
reason reverted to my old ways of being cold all the
time. We keep the thermostat in the house on 70°
but I have been FREEZING lately.
From day one of this past pregnancy, I was hot.
Always hot.
And now I've gone back to being cold like I was
when I was skinny.
Only without the skinny part.

But isn't that LOVELY that is was so warm yesterday?
Even if it was just for a little while.
It was so nice. It restored my faith in.....something.
Made me realize that winter has not settled
on us FOREVER and that spring will
come again.
Woo-hoo.

Today has been an okay Saturday.
I fell asleep on the couch this morning when I sat down
to look at something with Sweet T for a little while.
I was so surprised to wake up later when
Lloyd Dobbler called. He wanted to know if I was
ready to go to lunch (we were going to eat Mexican)
and I was laying there on the couch,
where he had left me an hour and a half earlier,
with my wet hair still in a towel.

It was nice to get out of the house with all of us.
Now we all smell like a Mexican restaurant.
Is it just our regular Mexican restaurant that does that
or is it all of them?
Do you smell like a Mexican restaurant after
eating a meal at your favorite Mexican joint?


I ate about 1,047 tortilla chips today.
They were just so good and fresh and hot today
and I was also thinking that I was glad to be done with
the whole gestational diabetes diet.
Of course I have reminded myself this afternoon that
I am supposed to be checking my sugar from time to
time.... and I haven't done that in two weeks or so.
Well, I'm not going to check it right now
after eating all those chips.
The meter would just say
"Sit down; you are about to go into a coma."

Does it annoy you to read the writings of someone
with really bad grammar? It does me. I was just
thinking of that as I corrected something I had typed above.
I have a relative who sends me these occasional e-mails
and I just want to SCREAM by the time I am
finished reading them.
She uses no punctuation and no capitalization.
So very annoying.
It's just this one paragraph like it's one thought and you're
just supposed to make of it what you can.
I don't know why she does that.
Why would any adult not make some effort
to make their writing correct?


But I know I'm not perfect.
I don't methodically proofread everything that
I hurriedly type out to you, Dear Reader.
So don't be alarmed if you find many errors here
on Ordinary Days. I make an effort....but I'm not perfect.
Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

I'm fixing to make a chicken pot pie for our
supper....although I have to say that I'm not very
hungry after those many many chips I ate at lunch.
But the kiddos need some veggies and this was one
of my easy meal ideas that I have on hand....one that
they will eat and they'll get the veggies and there won't
be any blood shed. Talk about comfort food
(and easy to make too, that's always a plus!),
what's more comforting on a gray January day
than a big ol' chicken pot pie?


In addition to making this comforting meal,
I have done 1.5 loads of laundry today.
So I'm not completely worthless.

"I'm doing the work! I'm baby stepping!"
(once again she references "What About Bob?")



I hope you are having a LOVELY weekend, Dear Reader.

I am the pendelum.

It is Friday, the first Friday of our home school co-op.
My mother took my children today, bless her heart.
They should be loading themselves back into her van
right about the time I am typing these very words.
I hope the day went well for them.
I hope it wasn't stressful or crazy for her.
It can be stressful and crazy sometimes.
Especially the first day back.

And what did you do, Bell, with your morning?

Well, let's see....

I fed Baby J a couple of times.
I sat on the couch with Baby J and watched
an entire movie while eating Fritos and guacamole.
I watched an episode of thirtysomething on youtube.
I did take a shower and get dressed.
And that's about it.

I have enjoyed the quiet so much.
I have enjoyed NOT having my
three older children here for a few hours.
I tell you what, this past week or so has had me thinking
how nice it would be if my children had had a
school to return to this month. It would be lovely if their
education had been taken off of pause and their little
brains were being fed and this was being done without me.
I am afraid I may become
the laziest person in the whole entire world
after all this time of leisure and rest that I've had
thrust upon me. I may never be productive again.
And the thing is, I am enjoying it.
I would much rather sit here and
listen to Jason Mraz than sweep the kitchen.
Who wouldn't?
I mean, I'd like to go out and be a part of the world,
but not when the only pants that fit me right now
are an embarrassment.
And it's just too dern cold to
wear a skirt right now....plus that would require
me shaving my mammoth legs....more work......


I hope this laziness falls under the category of
"this too shall pass"
so that I don't show up on the evening news as someone
who had to have a wall of her house ripped off
so that she could be removed from the horrible chaos.

And yes, this is the same person who was thinking yesterday
how lovely it would be to run a marathon.

OR I Could Teach Myself To Sew

I have had this on and off desire
to try to become a runner.


Since I'm not always the best at following through
with things, I never really talked about this to anyone
and I have certainly never done anything to undertake
this. It has been in recent years (since the babes started
showing up) that I have had this interest, and I have always
used my children as an excuse as to why I couldn't
do this. The first blog I ever discovered is by a woman
at much the same stage in life as I am and she has done
the Couch Potato to 5k thing.
I think she actually has one more child
than I do.....so see?
Children cannot be an excuse.


And then there's my athletic ability.
Nonexistent.
But then I hear this other blogger saying that she
was absolutely NOT athletic all her life and that when
she started running, she was grouped with the senior
citizens. And she's done marathons since then.
So that's encouraging to hear.

This is just something I think about.
I would be so proud of me if I could run.....good grief,
I'm not talking marathons. Even a 5k seems like this
distant, daunting goal.
Running to my mailbox and back seems
like a challenge at this very point in my life.
(And don't start yelling at me
---I'm not doing anything---
I know I'm still in the recovery stage!)

But this would be a goal that,
if I ever achieved it, I would be so proud of myself.


I would talk about nothing else.
I would wear shirts all the time
that proclaimed my accomplishment.
You wouldn't be able to live with me.
Not that you do.
But you know what I mean.

Maybe I should investigate this.
Do we think the Bell can run?
I just don't know.
But I need to get active.
And I feel like I need some kind of a goal like this.
Is this some kind of "mid-life" thing?
I've told you before, I can see 40 from here.
And wouldn't it be nice to be able to
run from it when it gets here?